Water-elevator.



- FLSTAUBER,

WATER 'ELEIAOIL` APPLICATIQN FLED'IULY l0. 19M.

Patented Sept, 9.,5,19117v 4 SHEETS-SHEET I..

' Ann/Ers- B. F. STAUBEB.-

WATER EL'EvAToR. APPLICATION FILED JULY I0. I`9I4.

1,241,297.; Patentedsept. 25, 19u17.

4 shams-sum' 2.

ATTORNEYS B. F. .STAUBER.

WATER ELEVTOR.

AlfPLlcATloN ruso )uw lo. |914.

Patented Sept. 25, 19W.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3 TTOR/VEYS man sfrafrns i WATER-ELEVATOR.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 25, 1917.

Application led J'uly 10, 1914. Serial No. 850,178.

` To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN F. STAU- BER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Spokane, in the county of Spokane and State of Washington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Water-Elevators, of which the following is a speciication. n

My invention relates to the utilization of the power of currents of rivers, creeks, andv other moving bodies of water, t0 operate suitable machinery, in the present case a pump, and the main object thereof is to provide such a device which is adapted to be anchored in a stream and to be so set in such position as to avail itself of theflow of water in such stream; a further object is to provide a water-wheel arrangement which may be adjusted to meet conditions and a further lobject is to provide such wheels with relatively great leverage to correspondingly affect the connected pump or other machinery; a further object is to provide a pump'in connection with such a device which raises water from the stream to any desired-place on ythe shore thereof, and the pumpingy of which is continuous rather than by impulses or pulsations; a further object is to provide a plurality of eccentric pistons in said pump and alternately operating to pump water but in such manner asto make thefsaid pumping continuous; a further object is to provide a movable bulkhead for each 0f the pistons, to take the strain of the water in the pumping operation, and to take such strain or pressure in such manner as n ot to interfere with the movement of said bulk-heads, but, rather, being assisted thereby and'thus reduce friction and wear toa minimum; and further objects are to provide such devices vwhich are simple in construction, installation, and operation, which require no attention whatever after being set, which are readily adaptable to streams and shorelines of varying character, which are very powerful, and which are comparatively inexpensive.

My -invention is fully described in the following specification, of which the vaccompanying drawings form a part, in which the same parts are designated by the same reference characters in each of the views, and` in which l l Figure 1 is a view of my invention in use.; Fig. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary, plan view thereof; l' 1 Fig. 3 is a section, greatly enlarged, Aon the line 3 3 of Fig. 4;

y Fig. 4 is a similar section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged section through my pump and on the line 5 5 of Fig. 6;

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 7 is an enlarged side view of an anchor I employ.

In the drawings forming a part of this application I have shown a float 10, supported by buoys or barrels 11, and having trusses 12 thereon supporting a platform 13 pivoted at 14 to said trusses, roller bearings 15 being mounted in a dependent frame 16 adjustably held by means of a threaded rod 17 pivoted thereto at 18 and rotatable in a support 19 on one of the truss members 12, a hand-wheel 20 being provided for said rod, and also pivotally mounted at 14 are two anchor arms 21 pivotally connected at 22 to concrete orother suitable `anchors 23 on the shore of a stream, as clearly shown in Fig. 1. l v

Secured above the platform 13 is a plate 24 carrying vertically arranged roller bearings 25 for a vertical shaft 26 also guided by the bearings 15, and said' shaft carries two'spaced hub-plates 27 and 28 supporting wheel spokes 29 provided, each, with a blade 30 at its outer end, said spokes being preferably made of adjustable lengths, and a cage of rollers 31 is arranged between the plates 24 and 28, as clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 4, and I also provide vertical braces 32 ana horizontalbraces 33 for the said spokes 29.

The shaft 26 carries a bevel gear 34 enmeshed with a gear 35 on a shaft 36 supported in the frame 16, and which shaft also carries a sprocket 37 connected, by means v of a chain 38, with a sprocket 39 on a pump 40, whereby vsaid pump may be actuated by the water-wheel formed by the spokes and blades above described.

' The pump 40 comprises a casing divided into two cylindrical chambers 41 and 42, and two compartments 43 and 44 formed by a partition 45, Fig. 5, the chamber 43 having a pipe 46 in flexible connection therewith and whichis extended to the shore of the stream, Fig. 2, and said chamber 43 is connected with the floor of the frame 16, as shown in Fig. 4, whereby the pump moves with the said frame-when adjusted by means ofthe rod'17, and Said pump is'a'rranged be always submerged in the stream.

The cylindrical chambers v41= and 42- :have

a port 47 and 48, respectively, leading into the chamber 43 and controlled by. ballber 43 from;` passing-into=the cylindrical chambers, and each of said last namedvcham-` bers has a hollow and openended shaft 50 and 5l, respectively, therein provided, each, with respective' ports 52 and 53, meshing spur-gears 54 and ,55, to the former of which shafts, 50,'t-he sprocket 39 is secured, as shown in Fig. 6, and each of the shafts 50 and'lvhasan eccentric. piston 56 and 57,- respectively, extending thefull lengthfof the cylindrical chambers 41 and 42 in which they revolve, and which pistons have a noseplatey 58 outwardly forced against thefwalls of the respective cylindrical,v chambers .by means ofsprings 59, to take up frictional wear. 4 y e n VVithi'n the chamber 44 are two arms 60 and 61 pivoted at 62fand 63 and provided with. bulk-heads l64 and 65, respectively, passing into. the chambers41 and 42 through slots 66 and 67, respectively, andnormally forcedthereinto by means of a spring 68, orequivalent, said bulk-,heads being alternately forced outwardly by the respective eccentric pistons in their-revolution, against the action of the spring., 68, said pistonsl being simultaneously revolved by the meshed gears 54 and 55.

Thepistons are set so thatone is farthest from` thev outlet port of the corresponding cylindrical chamberwhen the otherl piston is crOSSingvthewoutlet port of the otherzchamber, whereby continuous pumping results or, rather, continuous flow, the water admitted 'to eachpis'ton chamber through its hollow shaft being forced through Vthe correspondingV outlet port because of the pivoted Lbulkheadtherein and whichbulk-heads always impinge against the corresponding: piston, although .they areforced entirely out 0f correspondingvpiston chambers by said pistons e 1n veach revolution of the latter, and the method of mounting said bulk-heads..abso-` lutely prevents any friction thereofwiththe walls of theslotsin which they-operate, this being-animportant factor ofmy invention n and, when water hasA once been forced into the pipe 46, no return thereof is-possible.l to thepistonfcylinders, andsaid Water is, therefore, forced to the point ofjuse.

Itv will thus be. seen that I provide stream kcurrent motor of great f power,vad justableyto ymeet varyingconditions, mov,-l able vwith respecttto tides, practicallyfric-` tionless,l andv delivering a constant flow of water, the devicefbeing reversible for use on l opposite stream-banks by the mere changing of thefsprocket 39 lfrom one shaft tothe other, or bothfmay bel-provided with suchia sprocket andv then the chain alone"would require changeV from one to the other.

The individual bulk-.head construction permits either or bot-h of them to be worn y.downto a point where they no longer reach valves 49 to prevent any water in the cham bankofthe stream and immovable, by the. f

currents, the changing elevationsV of the float, due to the rise and fall of thetides, not affecting the y adjustment of the water-wheel with respect thereto, and with the surface 0f the stream, suitable cablesbei1ng'em-`k v ployed, if desired, to insure suchfloatposif tion the. y waterpipe is formed,7 by. rotary connections, so. that it is neverpistrained in the riseand fall of the viioatyandithe, en: tire device. is practical, efficient, lautomatic, simple, Aand .comparatively inexpensive., ,A

While I have shownzapumpactuatedby the waterwheel, it will be .apparentthat the movement'ofsaid wheel,` may be transmitted to4 the' shore to I,operate sawsrchurns, I

or.v other machinery and, reserving4 the Tright to ,make all-desired changes ink and modifications of 'the `form shown, and described, what Iclaim as new and desire to vsecure by Letters Patent, is v l.- A-, device of, the class described, comprising aA floating support, `a frame pivot-Y ally and adjustably hungl thereon, a shaftlin said frame, awater-wheel carried by vsaid shaft, apumpcarried by` the. framegand projecting through -the -said support, meansfor operating the pump from 1 said shaft, and means for locking said' frame in desired position to submerge a portion of said` Water-wheel, and maintain said pump in subf mergedposition.

2. A device of theiclassdescribed, .com-

prisinga floating support, a frame pivotally' through the said support, means for foperatingithef-,pu'mp from.- said shaft, a; pipe communicating said pumpiwith the shore of a. stream, means for -ma-intainingvsaid float in-position-y with-respect toV said shore, and means forlocking said-l frame at adesired angle to submerge said water-wheel, atroneside'thereof, and maintain said pump in: submerged position, said pipe "being: of flexible construction to accommodate the same to the vertical tidal movement of said` float.

3. A device of the class described, comprising an apertured float having upwardly extending members, a `:trame pivoted to the upper ends of the said members, a pump carried b v the frame and extending through the aperture of the float, a shaft mounted in the frame and projecting above the same, a water wheel mounted on the upper end of the shaft, gearing between the pump and shaft, and means for adjusting the frame with respect to the support whereb)7 to submerge the water wheel and maintain the pump in submerged position.

4. A device of the class described, comprising a float having upwardly extending members, a frame pivoted to the upper ends of the said members, a shaft mounted in the frame and projecting above the same, a water wheel on the upper end of the shaft, rollers between the hub of the wheel and the top of the frame, a pump, means for operating the pump from the said shaft, and means for adjusting the said frame with respect to the oat.

5. In a device ci the class described, a float having upwardly extending members, a frame pivoted to the upper ends of the said members, a screw pivoted to said frame and mounted in a support carried by one of the members of the float and having a hand wheel mounted thereon, a water Wheel mounted on said frame, a pump, and means for operating the pump from the shaft of the water wheel.

In testimony whereof I have Signed my name to this specication in the presence of the subscribing witnesses.

BENJAMIN F. STAUBER.

Witnesses:

Lnssm BRUNER, D. W. I-IURN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents- Washington, D. C. 

